Three-car teams for 2010?

prisonermonkeys

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Whilst doing the daily grind - trawling the internet in the half-hour I have before class - I stumbled upon this over at Autosport:
Ferrari eyes third car for Schumacher

By Jonathan Noble - Tuesday, August 11th 2009, 17:04 GMT

A push by Ferrari to allow teams to run three cars in Formula 1 next year could yet allow Michael Schumacher to return to the sport.

That was the firm hint dropped by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo on Tuesday night, just hours after Schumacher's F1 comeback was called off for now because of a neck injury.

Di Montezemolo believes that Schumacher has plenty to offer F1 still, even though he is 40-years-old, and he has said he will not ease off in his efforts to get the rules changed so Ferrari can run three cars next year - with Schumacher a possibility to fill for as many races as he wants.

In an interview that will appear in La Stampa on Wednesday, di Montezemolo said that there were clear reasons why Ferrari opted for its former champion rather than a young driver when it came to finding a replacement for Felipe Massa.

"Well we're talking about Michael Schumacher," said di Montezemolo. "He is 40 years old, but he's still from another planet.

"I prefer the champion, even if matured, to the mediocre driver, even if he's young. Our circus needed some great input.

"We're continuing to fight until every team has the right to start with three cars in the next season (and one I'd have handed over to Michael with pleasure). I prefer three McLaren and three Renault to three "whatevers". With BMW gone, there's not much to say but lots to do."

Di Montezemolo said he was 'very disappointed' by the news delivered on Monday night that Schumacher's neck injury from a motorcycle crash had not healed enough to allow him to race in F1, but said there was no point in pushing the German to try to get in the car.

"They found something that still didn't work," said di Montezemolo. "So it's better not to insist. We wouldn't do that at all. He had the small motorcycle accident in February and on the first laps at Mugello he felt that something was wrong. You shouldn't joke with your health."

Di Montezemolo also revealed that Schumacher himself was unhappy about the development that has kept him out of the F1 cockpit for now.

When asked how Schumacher reacted to the news, di Montezemolo said: "What do you think? He answered with such an enthusiasm to my request; the enthusiasm of a boy and not of a retired champion.

"He lost four kilos; same weight as in October 2006 when he raced for the last time in Brazil. You can imagine how he took it."

And di Montezemolo said that Badoer's chances of keeping the race seat beyond the European GP would very much depend on the job he did.

"[We have] faith in Luca Badoer, who's one of us," he said. "Destiny has given him a unique possibility now he has to make the best out of it. We will support him with all we've got."
So, is this a good idea or not? Thirteen teams with three cars means thirty-nine contenders at the most. My main argument is if a team constantly takes a 1-2-3, the sport will get even more boring that it has been in ages past. And with a limited number of places available, how will this work? A pre-qualifying event for third cars? Teams only running a third car at select events for a designated newcomer?
 
Well, to be fair, every team would have to have a 3rd car, and I doubt much can afford it. Monaco doesn't have enough space for 19 more grid spots ,so that may have to be sliced off the cake.
 
I think De Montezemolo is expecting the 3/4 new teams to drop out since the budget cap didn't happen. So the 3rd cars would give us 26 cars on the grid.
 
It would work fine if only the top 3 constructors were allowed to field a third car, and would give an added incentive to finish in the top3 as a 3rd car would allow more advertising revenue.
 
It wont happen, trying to reduce costs, and adding a 3rd car in don't work.

Although the marginal cost of adding a 3rd car would be fairly low, it still wont happen.
 
Spare cars were banned for cost cutting reasons. I suspect this is Luca seeing how much of a storm Schumacher's return kicked up and now realises how much potential profit there is to be made.

If they did add a third car, I think they'd be better served sticking Kubica in it.

The WRC used to have 3 car teams 7 or so years ago, and back then the teams would have to nominate 2 drivers to score constructor's points before the event. That way the 2 car teams still get a fair shot at the constructor's title. All 3 got driver's title points if I remember right.
 
Why is it that Luca always throws these ideas out there without any reasoning behind them? He's been banging on about 3 car teams for a while now but hasn't put forward a decent reason why they should be in the sport - nor has he indicated he has even talked to the other teams or FOTA about it.

It won't happen because:
1. Costs of running the 3rd car, plus paying a 3rd driver wages, logistics, etc etc etc. Plus then you'd have to build and bring with you a 4th car for spare parts (as I believe currently the teams already bring a 3rd car albeit in parts for spares) as well as more front wings, more tyres, more engineers, more engines.....
2. A podium dominated by one team would be very dull.
3. If only some teams ran 3 cars, it would be an unfair advantage, even if 1 of the cars didn't count for points - its still an advantage to have a 3rd car there to slow down opponents or pick up the points when another car fails.
4. Luca doesn't seem to have discussed this with FOTA, and if he has then the silence from FOTA on this "issue" suggests to me they don't really agree with him.

This is almost as stupid as Bernie's medal idea for the same reasons - why fix what isn't broken? Adding more costs is pretty moronic as well when the teams and the FIA are attempting to bring them down....
 
I just had a thought. Ferrari wants Alonso, but doesn't want the bad rep from releasing Massa after his injury, and Raikkonen is under contract until the end of 2010 I believe, (correct me if I'm wrong), so Montezemolo is trying to get a third car allowed for Alonso using Schumi's possible return as an excuse. Meh, I doubt that's it, but you never know, it is F1 after all. I just can't believe Ferrari wants Schumacher to drive full-time again, it makes little sense.
 
3 car fields would mean Brawn and Red Bull take the first 6 places with Toyota, Ferrari, Williams and McLaren taking the last 2 randomly. Pretty damn boring.
 
I just had a thought. Ferrari wants Alonso, but doesn't want the bad rep from releasing Massa after his injury, and Raikkonen is under contract until the end of 2010 I believe, (correct me if I'm wrong), so Montezemolo is trying to get a third car allowed for Alonso using Schumi's possible return as an excuse. Meh, I doubt that's it, but you never know, it is F1 after all. I just can't believe Ferrari wants Schumacher to drive full-time again, it makes little sense.
Uh, no. If Ferrari want Alonso, why do they keep saying they're not in talks with him? Ferrari deny it, Alonso deny it, Raikkonen and Massa deny it; the only people who believe it are the Spanish tabloids who want it to happen.
3 car fields would mean Brawn and Red Bull take the first 6 places with Toyota, Ferrari, Williams and McLaren taking the last 2 randomly. Pretty damn boring.
Not necessarily. Under a three-car team, there's nothing to stop someone like Ferrari stacking their line-up with the best three drivers. So a solution could be to only open up a third car to young driver programs. And then we could have a kind of pre-qualifying for the rookie drivers, a race or an extra session with the top two or four advancing onto qualifying proper.
 
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